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At some point in our work with students, we find a need to begin to teach our students to advocate for their own needs. This becomes increasingly important as students move into middle school and beyond. Teaching self-advocacy skills to someone with dyslexia involves empowering them with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to understand their…
Scribal o is a spelling convention with a fascinating historical story. The History of Scribal O Long ago, before the printing press was in common use, manuscripts were written by hand. The people who did this job were called scribes and many times they were monks. The writing style popular at the time was comprised…
As students move on to more advanced concepts, certain spelling conventions don’t fit neatly into a clear-cut rule with a catchy turn of phrase. They are often particularly difficult for students to master. These concepts can also be challenging for teachers to explain clearly and concisely because of their complexity. In addition, unless someone has…
While the syllable types explain many spellings and pronunciations in English, we still come across some words that don’t quite work the way we expect them to. One of those is a group of words known as closed syllable exceptions. Let’s talk about teaching closed syllable exceptions! What are closed syllable exceptions? Closed syllable exceptions…
One of the very first suffixes that I teach students is the suffix -s. This suffix makes a word plural. Teaching -s and -es builds on students’ natural speech patterns and makes a perfect introduction to the concept of base words and suffixes. Teaching the concept of plural nouns also creates a bridge to teaching…
The suffixing rules represent a challenging but important set of spelling generalizations. They allowed students to write a wide variety of sentences using the full range of verb tenses. Learning these suffixing rules, like the Y Rule, puts students on the path to avoiding many spelling pitfalls and being able to successfully navigate the writing…
A particularly challenging, but important, set of spelling generalizations are the suffixing rules. They are important for students to be able to write using more natural-sounding language. For example, He did hop sounds far more awkward and stilted than He hopped. Learning the suffixing rules, like the drop e rule, expands possibilities for our students…
One category of spelling rules that is particularly important is suffixing. These rules are particularly important because suffixes are so frequently used in our written language. Writing even a simple paragraph without suffixes is an incredibly difficult task and results in the use of awkward language that doesn’t sound particularly natural. Learning a few basic…
When it comes to teaching online, Michelle B. from Read to Rewire has nailed it. She is a guest on my blog and is sharing, “Tips on Working With Wiggly Readers Online”. If you are an Orton-Gillingham teacher or work with children online, her tips are going to really help you! Do you notice how…